Light Duty Day for Station Crew

Expedition 30 had a light duty day after their Expedition 29 crewmates landed Monday and an off-duty day Tuesday. Commander Dan Burbank and Flight Engineers Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoly Ivanishin began their increment after Expedition 29 undocked but have been aboard the International Space Station since Nov. 16.

They will welcome three new Expedition 30 crew members next month. Flight Engineers Oleg Kononenko, Andre Kuipers and Don Pettit are scheduled to dock to the Rassvet mini-research module on Dec. 23 in the Soyuz TMA-03M spacecraft. That trio is in Russia wrapping up final training and preparations.

Burbank started his day working on a couple of science experiments. The commander familiarized himself with ultrasound gear that is part of the Vessel Imaging experiment. He also collected scientific data for the Passages experiment. Both studies observe how the human body adapts to microgravity.

Shkaplerov and Ivanishin both had an hour set aside to continue their adjustment to life on orbit. The cosmonauts also worked in the station’s Russian segment maintaining life support systems and other critical gear.

Burbank conducted his first in-flight interview as station commander with CBS news reporters Bill Harwood and Peter King. He talked about spending Thanksgiving in space and his launch to the station in snowy and below freezing conditions.

Mission Control monitored a piece of space debris Tuesday and determined it was no threat to the station. The crew awoke Wednesday morning and was informed there was no need to shelter inside the docked Soyuz TMA-22. The object is 4 inches (10 centimeters) in diameter and from the Chinese Fengyun 1C weather satellite that was destroyed in 2007.